Second Chances
by LeagueofOrdinaryGentlemen
Summary: When four girls find themselves on that lonely gravel road things seem to go horribly wrong. But what happens when one of them have an ability that could save them all? And what if this ability brands her a freak? LizardXOC
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Hills have Eyes, I do own Jessi

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Four years ago I had a life changing event. Something that I regret, fear and hate every single day. But even if it had screwed up my job, my life, everything that was me, there was one thing that had proven good. For three years I had lived in the same town as my three friends and for three years they had all escaped death. Some would say that my three friends lived safely for three years had nothing to do with my presence. But they don't know, they wouldn't understand what has happened to me. They would brand me a freak and throw me into a mental institute. But it wouldn't change the fact that I had been saving my friends lives for three years now. And now it was going to change. It was all going to change.

Somewhere in New Mexico

The road had turned from a nice black top to a crappy one lane piece of shit road. "HOLY SHIT" Jenna said from the backseat. Looking up at the rearview mirror I raised an eyebrow at her, ignoring the fact that her face had turned from young and pretty to old and wrinkly. As sudden as her face had changed it was back to normal. "What the fuck are you yelling at?" I said as I shifted into another gear. "Jessi, you're going130 what the hell do you think I'm yelling at?" She said while clinging to the seat. I laughed as I slowed down to about 70. It was hard not to put the pedal to the metal when I was driving my car. Two years ago I had finally gotten enough money to buy a new 2010 Camaro and ever since I haven't driven anything else.

The car was like my baby and I was very protective of it. "Alright I'm slowing down, besides there's a gas station" I pointed out the windshield to a small dark building ahead. "We have to get gas and directions" I said smiling. Michelle sat next to me and smirked. Jenna was the one always trying to get me to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, since what happened four years ago I have had some strange side effects, and getting into trouble seemed to be one of my top issues. Kandi sat in the back seat besides Jenna and she was out, we had been in the car for way to fucking long. Jenna leaned over and woke her up as I pulled into the gas station. Turning my baby off I opened the door and let my seat slide forward so Kandi could get out.

The place was a shit hole. It was old and poorly taken care of. As I put the gas nozzle into my car I looked out over my car to peer at the desert. It was all we had been staring for the past three hours and I was eager to get out of here. Walking into the station after getting gas I pulled a wad of money out of my back pocket and picked up a few snacks and a bottle of water. 'No soda for me' I thought silently grumbling slightly. Ever since I had started to see deaths I promised myself I would always be able to protect those I loved. Being fit helped that a lot. Smiling at the man behind the counter I put down my water and chocolate bar. So maybe I wasn't trying very hard.

Even though I ate the occasional junk food I was still very fit, as fit as if I had just gotten done with basic training. "Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me the fastest way out of this hell hole." I said politely. He grinned at my words. "There's a road about a mile or so from here, it's gravel all the way but it cuts through the desert." I pondered for a moment before nodding my head. "Thanks" I said as I pocketed the extra money and grabbed my water. The other girls had gathered at the car, each staring out at the desert. "This place gives me the creeps" Jenna said as she turned to shrug back into the backseat. "You're just a scared bitch" Michelle replied with a grin which was returned with a glare. Kandi rolled her eyes before looking back at me. "Is there a way out of here?" I smiled before nodding my head. "Thank god" She said before getting back into the car. I looked back at the station to see the man frowning at us. Raising an eyebrow but not worrying about it I sat in the driver's seat before starting the engine and pulling out of the gas station. I leaned over to turn up 'Crack a bottle' and grinned over at Michelle.

It didn't take us long to find the road that the man was talking about. Frowning at the gravel road I almost decided to just stay on the paved road. But I turned anyways, wanting to get where we were going fast. Each of the girls where talking in the background, but I wasn't paying attention. My eyes where on the road, on the desolate place that seemed silently eerie. We had to have traveled about five miles out before I glanced over at Michelle. It seemed to happen to fast. Suddenly Michelle's grinning face turned into a bloody mess, a machete sticking out the back of her head. Her eyes where wide with fear and suddenly they went blank.

Three things ran through my head suddenly. Lizard. An hour. Here. Food. My face turned white and the three girls noticed and they went pale. They knew that look upon my face. I slammed on the brakes just as they crossed over something sharp below. Suddenly we where swerving to the side but I had control. We stopped and I was out of the car before the other girls could think. They filed out after me but I was busy in the trunk. Pulling a black bag out I tossed it aside though Jenna didn't complain. They knew something was wrong.

Underneath a black matt was a compartment, a hidden compartment. Each of the girls leaned over with curiosity though the fear was plain on their face. Never before had I said nothing of what I had seen. I would always say something that would bring them peace of mind. But this was different. Taking the cover off of the compartment I reached in and felt around for the handgun, a Desert Eagle mark VII, that I had stowed away. Pulling it out I checked the ammo before laying it down in the trunk. I reached back in and pulled out three pieces of a gun which I quickly put together. I then laid the shotgun down next to the handgun. Jenna gasped, Michelle's and Kandi's faces seemed to get even whiter. "Where the fuck did you get those?" Michelle's voice was but a whisper. I ignored her to look for the other weapon I had stowed away. Pulling out the pieces I didn't hesitate to put together the sniper rifle. Taking a second handgun, another Desert Eagle mark VII, out of the compartment I looked up at Michelle. "Souvenirs" I said simply before handing her one of the Desert Eagle's. I didn't say anything but I looked over at the hills for any sign of...well anything.

I took the shotgun and leaned it against the car, making sure the safety was on, then took the other handgun and shoved it between me and my waistband of my jeans. I shut my trunk and propped my rifle on top pointing it in the direction of where the one I had saw, Lizard, had come from. I scanned the area carefully when a glint caught my eye. I knew what it was, in basic we had done something like that to keep in touch. Looking through the scope of the rifle I aimed for the little piece of mirror. I didn't bother look at who was holding it, I didn't want to kill, just disable their communications if possible. "Cover your ears" I said before pulling the trigger and smiling slightly to myself as I saw the mirror shatter in the person's hand. It was then that I went to look at who was holding the mirror but as I moved the scope he was gone. Looking up I stared at Michelle. Her face was still bloody, though how she dies was different. I still knew it was Lizard, who did it, and that it would happen soon, that she would die here, and he wanted her for food. For fucking this time it wasn't a machete imbedded in her head, it was a spiked chain.

Pulling the rifle off of the trunk of the car I pulled my Desert Eagle out and put my rifle down by the shotgun. "Get in the car, stay down and do not move" I said in a low voice before moving to the side of the car facing the hills. Whoever was up there was still there and wanted them dead. I paced up and down the car as I waited and occasionally glanced down at Michelle. Each of the girls had their own deaths but I wouldn't be able to handle seeing them all die gruesomely. I looked at the rearview mirror of my car after over five minutes of pacing and suddenly I wasn't looking at the mirror with determination. My face was bloody, something wrapped around my neck and my mouth gaping open trying to breathe. Once again I knew what, when, who and how. Lizard was going to kill me, now, I even knew why. I whipped around just as Michelle screamed and the same spiked chain that was supposed to be around my neck was embedded into my car. My precious car.

I surprised him when the chain didn't wrap around my neck and my gun was pointed between his eyes. "If you know what's good for you, Lizard, you would leave" I hissed at him, sneering at his name. He seemed even more surprised that I knew his name and he was about to say something when another voice interrupted him. 'Get your ass back here Lizard, now!' He glared at me before coiling the chain around him and backing up. He was soon in the hills and I waited for a few more minutes before looking into the car. Michelle's face was terrified but it soon turned old and wrinkly, a sure sign that whatever was supposed to happen, didn't. I didn't bother with the tear in my car but opened my door and pulled a terrified Kandi out. Michelle and Jenna were soon by my side, Jenna sobbing, Michelle close to tears, and Kandi white as a ghost. "Look, your okay now but you need to get out of here" I turned to address Kandi as she was the only one that didn't seem on a straight and swift path to a breakdown. I grabbed the Desert Eagle from Michelle and gave it to Kandi. I had thought Michelle would have been a little more clear headed.

I looked at them all, and they all briefly turned old and wrinkly. "Okay, go back to the gas station, it's about five miles back to the main road and a mile to the station" They tried to protest but I held up my hand. "I can't go, if I do he will try to follow but if I'm here than he will want to take me out first" At my words each girl tried to say her piece but I shook my head again and sighed. "But…" Jenna whispered quietly but I just placed a hand on her arm. They didn't want me to do this but they had to realize that I can take care of myself. "Guys, I'll be okay" I tapped my head and grinned. Each seemed to relax only slightly. "We can't just leave you here by yourself, Jessi" Kandi said while trying to give the gun back to me. I started to push them down the road we came from. "You have to hurry, here's some money to get home, use the gun if that guy doesn't want to help" I said though I knew they wouldn't really want to or need to. "And when you get home..." I paused. "I'm still on vacation okay?" I said quietly. No need to worry anyone else.

They hesitated but started to turn down the road. "I'll come back" I said softly and Michelle stared at me. "You better" Was all she said before the three started walking down the road. I pulled out the rifle and tracked their movements and watched incase someone might attack until they couldn't be seen anymore. It was growing dark and as I sat upon the dirty floor looking at the damage to the tires I could feel a yawn starting. I grabbed a blanket from the trunk and climbed into the back seat. I locked the doors and set the Desert Eagle next to me before letting myself fall asleep.

I awoke in the middle of the night, hearing something outside; I grabbed my gun and cautiously opened the door. I stepped out of the car to find the air cold, freezing even. I wondered why the hell it could get this cold in the desert. Looking out over towards the hills I wondered if he was watching. Looking back into the rearview mirror I watched my face as it became bloody. I turned away letting the knowledge of how, why, when, and where I was going to die and who was going to kill me store in the back of my mind.

I sat down in the driver's seat of my car before falling asleep again. This time I didn't wake until the sun rose over the mountains in the distance. I groaned slightly as I looked outside the window. It was light enough now that I could switch the front tire with the extra I had in my trunk. How we fit everything in there I still didn't know but I was glad that we had room for the extra tire. I still needed three others but it would take my mind off of what was going to happen today. I grabbed the tire and what tools I had and turned on 'The Fear' while working on the car. It took me a good while to switch the tires but I got it done and seeing as I was still alone I moved to the tear in my cars body. I ran my fingers over the gash and sighed. It was going to take some money to fix this.

As I moved to stand up a shadow fell to my left. Spinning around I cursed under my breath as I caught site of not only Lizard, but four others, each as imposing as the others. I gasped and in my fright I had dropped my Desert Eagle. Lizard, who stood between two others that towered over him, grinned at me. I shrank back against my car, ready to try and defend myself if any decided to attack. It was then that I noticed one had a shotgun…my shotgun. My eyes where wide with fear and each of the mutated people seem to pick up on that, one stepped forward and he was the only one who seemed to look fairly normal. I pressed myself to my car not seeing any way of getting out of this. I hadn't seen my reflection for a few hours and I didn't know if I was to die here.

The big one that came at me seemed to be the leader and he leaned down to grab onto my shirt. "Get the fuck up bitch" He snarled at me while pulling me roughly up. He grabbed my hands and hastily tied them behind me before pushing me forward where I almost did a face plant. I had seen some crazy shit but these people terrified me and I wasn't able to think clearly before I was being herded towards the hills. I could see Lizard in front of me, leering at me as if he had plans for me. I stared ahead trying to get a glimpse of something that would help me. We made progress over the rough terrain, me stumbling a few times. Once I crashed to my knees only to be roughly picked up and thrown forwards where I almost didn't stay on my feet. We moved over the top of the hill and down below a village sat nestled in a valley. They all seemed very comfortable in the terrain and I knew that I didn't have a chance. I could distantly smell the metallic smell of blood. My heart hammered in my chest as I realized I wouldn't be able to keep my promise. I was going to die here. God help me.

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This is my first story in the Hills have Eyes category so reviews are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

We began our descent down to the little town nestled comfortably in the hills. I kept my gaze away from the five that guarded me but I was sure that I was the only thing they looked at. I glanced at a nearby broken down car, its windows making enough of a reflection that I could see my face. With the new information about my death I felt stronger, the fear drifted away since I knew a little about what was going on. The five around me seemed to notice my change as I started to walk straighter, my fear turning into determination. I still didn't look at any of them but I could see in my peripheral vision that the two at my side seemed to converse quietly. We went to the third house and my shoulder was roughly grabbed as one opened the door. None to gently shoved through the door I became sick of being pushed around. "What the fuck?!" I turned my head, ignoring the flash of his face becoming bloody. "Do you know how to treat a lady fucker?" I glared at him and he just glared back at me. Papa Jupiter. That's what they called him. My ability seemed to give me more information than I had first thought.

The others gathered around Papa Jupiter and I looked at them in turn. The one far left seemed to stand in the corner but his fate flashed before my eyes. Goggle. I turned my attention to the other one standing next to him; he was about as tall as Papa Jupiter. His bloody face flashed in my mind. Pluto. On the other side of Papa Jupiter I glanced at Lizard and moved to the other, his face almost making me cringe as I stared at him. Cyst. "Shu' the fuck up bitch" Papa Jupiter replied while pushing me into a shitty room that I made out as a living room. I turned to glare at whoever was in the room and gasped as my stare fell on a man in a wheel-chair, his head was huge! He smiled ruefully at me which I replied with a glare. With more courage than I thought I could possibly muster at this point I stood tall and stared him in the eye. "Any special reason you decided to have me brought here?" I said while he just stared at me. I wasn't really sure at this point why I was here; these people, if you could call them that, ate others. They where cannibals and I was prey. So why was I here? My answer came shortly. "How did you know Lizard?" 'Wow, real intimidating interrogation we got going here' I thought ruefully. It wasn't till I felt a hand on my shoulder that I realized he didn't have to sound menacing, he had all the intimidation he wanted behind me.

I paused wondering if I should just spill the beans about my neat knack for knowing deaths. As I thought of what they where going to do with my friends I began to feel angry, and with my anger the urge to terrify the shit out of these people. Deciding that for once the side effects of the experiment gone wrong would make me feel good I leaned in close a devilish grin on my face. "Would you like to know how you die?" With my words the hand tightened painfully but I just laughed. Big Brain, as I found out via my freaky talent, seemed to consider my words carefully. "I'll tell you." My voice was low and hissing. "You'll mock a man, you'll tell him how powerless he is" I let my eyes narrow and my voice slip even lower. "You'll tell him how his family is doomed, that he will never be able to save them." His eyes widened slightly as I leaned closer, though the hand held me firmly away from Big Brain. "Then you'll have Pluto come kill him, you'll watch as he struggles to survive against him" Now he seemed to get a little nervous as I continued to rattle his cage. "Then like the fool you think you aren't, you'll distract Pluto causing his death. Then after the man leaves to save his family, the dog" I grinned showing my pearly white teeth. "Yes see the dog, he attacks you, rips your throat out as you call feebly for help." I was on the verge of insanity and I could feel the room grow deathly quite except for my soft speaking. "And nobody will come." I finished while waiting for him to react.

He seemed to pale as my words sunk in. I think it was more a fact that I had spoke without pause, that I spoke with determination that made him believe me. "You see, I know when you're going to die, I know who is going to kill you, I know how you're going to die, and I know why" I turned on the person who had grabbed my shoulder to find Lizard standing behind me. His hand never left my shoulder as I sneered at him. "And you, you're a tough bastard to kill" I hissed at him. "But in the end you do die, and your killer is in this village" I grinned at him as his eyes widened slightly. "Oh yes, one of your own turns on you and when it happens I'll sit and laugh" But I wouldn't, because I knew what I had to do, to stay alive. Turning back to Big Brain I tried to calm myself from the high I had just let myself get to. "But your death's, they aren't permanent, if they were me, my friends" I shook my head. "We would have been killed by you already" I smiled lightly thinking of what I was about to subject myself to. They seemed shaken up but Big Brain was the first to recover, I could almost see the gears working in his mind. "I could tell you when you're going to die, I could tell you how to avoid it" He seemed surprise by my statement, but since I had saved my friends asses, it was now time to save my own. "And I, in return, want to live" I shrugged my shoulder as if asking for this was nothing to me, but in fact it was everything. He seemed to contemplate for awhile before speaking. "What if you're lying?" He asked in his raspy voice. "Five days, that's when your all going to die, keep me around and if nobody comes then you can kill me, but if they show up then I'll help keep you alive" He seemed to like my answer though I could see hesitation in his eyes.

For a few moments we all stood in silence before he shook his head so minutely I almost missed it. "Fine, but you'll be accompanied by someone day and night" He said while grinning at me. I shrugged my shoulders figuring he would have Jupiter watch me. "Lizard, you'll watch her" I almost choked as he spoke. I could almost see Lizard grinning that damned grin of his as I tried to make coherent words. Glaring at Big Brain who seemed to think he was triumphant in making me uncomfortable. "Fine, but I want to work on my car, and I want the supplies I need to fix it" He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. I knew what he was thinking, would I flee when my car was fixed. I knew I wouldn't make it even if I tried so I dug into my pocket, hard when my hands where still bound, where I had stashed my keys. "Here, can't go anywhere without these" I moved to give them to Big Brain but Lizard grabbed them from my hands. "I'll take care o' 'em" He said before shoving them in a pocket in his pants. I grumbled slightly but didn't say anything. I thought of it as a game, keep the freaky mutants happy and stay alive.

Big Brain waved his hand and I was roughly pulled away from the living room and through the door. Obviously we weren't heading back to my car as I was roughly grabbed and dragged to a different house a few hundred yards away. Neither of us spoke as the rest of the mutants had either stayed at Big Brain's house or went on their merry way. I noticed a little girl though, standing behind a house and knew her instantly as Ruby. I cringed as I saw her death flash before my eyes. She dies saving those her family killed. I looked away in shame. She stood up to them even though it killed her and I just sided with them, telling them I would help kill those who were suppose to kill them. We moved quickly to the house and I was shoved inside and directed to a small room. When the door was opened I wrinkled my nose slightly. It sure was not a four star hotel. The place was dusty, the floor having spots of dark liquid stained onto the boards probably from blood. The bed was dirty, a single blanket with sheets and two pillows where all that was on the bed. I looked at the dresser next; it was small and had a small mirror upon it. I stared at my reflection noticing that I wasn't going to die any time soon. I sighed as the rope that had dug into my flesh was removed. I rubbed my wrists to get the blood flowing again and to see if any damage would come from having them bound. Nope, just some bad rope burn. I glanced towards the right of the bed and noticed a single chair. Weird. I turned to look at Lizard but he had already turned towards the door. "Don' think 'bout goin' anywhere" He hissed before slamming the door shut. Shaking my head I moved over to the empty chair not daring to sit upon the bed. Something told me that this wasn't just an extra room, from the ruffled up blanket to the fact that there were a few different knives sitting upon the dresser I guessed the room belonged to Lizard. Grumbling about having to share a room with him I tried to get comfortable as I watched the light outside go from bright to dark. I must have sat there doing nothing for three hours. Three fucking hours!

But I was used to waiting; I did a lot of waiting in basic. As the day dragged on I found myself thinking of four years ago. Of the day they came to me telling me a bunch of bullshit of how I was in a special program to help keep loved ones safe by creating more efficient and strong soldiers. Bullshit. I yawned as I thought of my life then. Slowly my eyes drifted shut letting my mind dream of a nightmare I never wanted.

_I stood outside the office waiting for my name to get called. I was excited and nervous to know what they wanted me for. I had joined the army after my sister and brother had both joined. They both loved it, and I enjoyed a challenge. 'Basic had been one hell of a challenge' I giggled to myself. "Private Sanes" As my name was called I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I walked through the door to see Sergeant Anders standing beside a seated General. THE general, the hotshot of the Army. I gulped silently before standing at attention before the General and Sergeant Anders. "Sir?" I asked uncertainly. "At ease" I relaxed my position as I waited for him to speak again. "Private Sanes, as you know we have chosen you for a special program." I nodded my head showing I understood. He continued. "What you don't know is what the program is." He leaned forwards on the desk before speaking again. "G.A.S.S" He stated simply. "Genetically Altered Super Soldiers" I almost laughed. Like G.I Joes, I wanted to say but of course you can't say that in front of a superior. "We are looking for volunteers to let us experiment with the five senses." He looked at me as I suddenly realized the importance of this conversation. "We want to heighten the five senses so the ability in combat rises in a soldier" He looked at me as I nodded my head. "Like wolves in a herd of deer Sir?" I asked uncertainly. He smiled at my concept. "Something like that." I saw him smile before fading into darkness. _

_I was confused as a bright light was over me, scared as I saw an I.V dripping in my arm. Was I awake? What happened? Someone walked over to me and said something but I didn't hear them, I saw them pull out a needle and stick it into my I.V. I watched the blue liquid run into my arm and the moment it went into my veins I screamed in pain. The pain! Oh the pain! I thrashed side to side and tried to escape but it only grew worse._

I awoke from my spot on the chair, screaming. I jumped from the chair to the other wall tears streaming down my face. My breath was ragged and I was sobbing. I fell to my knees as I relived the pain from both my dream and the reality of four years ago. "no...no...no" I murmured to myself as I tried to erase the feeling, the helplessness and the pain that dream brought me. It took me awhile to recover and I looked over to the window to notice it had grown dark, and my shivering hadn't been totally from the fear. It was fucking cold. Just as I was ready to move back to my chair the door opened letting a flood of light fall upon me. Lizard. I was embarrassed for him to see me like this so I looked away as he shut the door. Curiosity got the better of me and I looked up to see him tugging his shirt off. When he caught me looking he grinned and I glared. I looked away as he slid onto his bed. He said nothing to me and I liked it that way. I got up and moved over to the chair, curling up as I had the first time. I glanced over at Lizard to see him with his eyes closed, an arm around his waist and one draped over his head. He had pulled the blanket to cover half of his chest and he seemed to smirk.

I glared as I realized that he knew I was cold and he was playing it up. After several moments he pulled the blanket up farther and turned onto his side as if he was cold and wanted warmth. He gave a slight sigh, like he was finally comfortable. "Bastard" I muttered silently before wrapping my arms around myself and trying to get back to sleep. I woke only two more times, each time because I was stiff or I was cold. But as the morning broke over the little town I finally felt the warmth of the sun. I was woken up when suddenly I wasn't on the chair again. "Let's go bitch" He muttered as if he was already bored with what he had to do. Muttering something unintelligible even to me I stumbled towards the open door. I walked out to find a small table in a little kitchen with a bowl of…. "Is that cereal?" I said as I moved over to look in the bowl. I glanced at Lizard but he seemed pissed that I had asked. "Wha' the fuck do ya think it is?" He seemed to hiss at me. I would have retorted with something wickedly funny but I was too damned hungry to pay attention. I hadn't eaten since yesterday at 1 in the morning and I wasn't about to pass up some sort of food. I was just surprised it was cereal.

I had scarfed down the food before Lizard had even time to walk back from wherever he had disappeared to after snarling at me. I awkwardly put the dish into the sink before turning around to find Lizard right there. I mean, right there. I put my hands up as a reflex and they rested upon his chest. My eyes had widened in fright before they narrowed in anger. "Personal space would be nice" I hissed at him as I started to push him away from me. He didn't budge though. "As far as I see it, ya ain't got any personal space" He grinned down at me. He was too close and I could feel his hot breath on my face. Luckily, or not, someone walked in and Lizard took a step back to look at who it was. "Big Brain wants ya ta get the bitch out and workin' on dat damned car" Jupiter had walked in with his arms crossed over his chest glaring at me. Well aren't I just special. I blushed slightly under his gaze, more out of fear than anything, before he turned and left. Lizard grumbled and took my arm before towing me out of the house. We made a left and came upon a bunch of old cars, each with healthish looking tires. "Get yer damned tires and hurry" Lizard said before sitting down and waiting for me. I frowned as I looked at each set of tires. Finally I found a set that I thought would fit on my car but I wasn't sure about the width. Knowing my hands where to small to measure right I groaned as I turned to Lizard. "Uhh...I…um kinda need to borrow your hand for a...uuh...second." He grinned before getting up and walking towards me. I glared at him before putting my hand out for him to put his in. When he did that I yanked his hand towards the tire before placing it where I needed it. I glanced at him and his grin seemed to get bigger, I could almost see what was running through his head. Getting what I needed I let go of his hand and moved over to the tire to lift it up. "These I need, make yourself useful and grab the other two" I said as I picked up the other one. He gave me a look as if he was going to argue but went over and picked up the other two tires. We trekked over the hills back to my car, my orange car that seemed so lonely down there. Black racing stripes stood out on the cars body and I grinned. But the grin faded as I realized that there was a tear in my door, no thanks to Lizard.

We made it down to the car and I took off the black shirt I had on, I saw Lizard's grin widen out of the corner of my eye. What an ass. The white tank top I had on underneath was old and torn slightly at the bottom, perfect for working on the car. My jeans were fairly new but I wasn't about to change in front of him. I glanced behind me and noticed that he was perched on a rock, the spike chain wrapped around him and his eyes hidden by the shadow from his hat. Mumbling to myself I opened my car door before realizing I needed the key to turn on the music. I hope he didn't know that as I grabbed an extra I had in the console of my car. I put the CD player on to listen to my favorite mix CD as I tried to work with the tires given to me. I grabbed the tools I kept in the back underneath the back seat and smiled. Thank god I had thought of putting them there. I removed the ruined tire and glanced at the new...ish...one I was about to put on. It would work till I got to the next town and got new tires. Yes, I hadn't planned on staying long after helping them escape their deaths.

I had gotten the undamaged tire on the car, and I was moving to the other one when something caught my eye, Ruby. She was a ways from Lizard, to his left. I glanced at him but he seemed to have drifted off to sleep. Cautiously I started forward, smiling at her while putting a finger to my mouth. I used the same finger to motion her towards me and for a few seconds I thought she wasn't going to come. But in the end she made her way quietly down the rocky hills. She reached me a few moments after reaching the bottom and I gave her the kindest smile I could. "Hello Ruby" I said softly, quietly. She smiled nervously at me before glancing at Lizard. "Never mind him, come with me and lets talk" I motioned towards my car and she gave a hesitant nod. We walked over to my car and, still ever so quietly, we sat down under its shade. "I'm Jessi" I said kindly and she smiled at me. "'Ello Jessi" The words where strained and if I hadn't been listening closely I wouldn't have understood her. A frown appeared on my face which she seemed to cringe. "Ruby, has anyone taught you to speak?" I wasn't trying to be rude. She shook her head and my expression turned from a frown to a glare over in Lizard's general direction. "Well, that's pretty rude of them" I smiled back down at her.

"Would you like to learn?"

My words brought a smile and she eagerly nodded her head. I smiled before starting to help her pronounce her words better. I started working on my car as I taught Ruby not only speech, but about other things. She was a bright girl, and eager to learn so I had no trouble with getting her to talk. When I had finished with the four tires, it was about noon, it had taken more than it should have as I paused often to help Ruby with harder words. "Thank you Jessi" She said before looking over at Lizard. He still seemed to be asleep, but who the fuck knew with him. Ruby got up and with a wave took off towards the hill. I shook my head when she had disappeared at how odd she was. I smiled to myself as I realized, though, that she wanted so bad to learn, to escape from this place and be normal. And maybe...maybe I could give her that chance. I walked around to the driver's door to check the damage. I rolled the windows up to check the wiring and it looked good. The gash didn't go through the car door, but it had made the edges sharp and it didn't take much pressure to puncture the skin on them.

I closed my door and turned around to find Lizard right behind me. But this time he was grinning like he had just won the lottery. He pushed me back into my car, enough that the edge of the gash dug into my back creating a gash in my back. I gasped at the pain and he seemed to grin even more. He had pushed me against the car and as he held my face in one hand and the other slid down my side. His face was close to mine and he pressed his lips to mine in which I pushed him away from me. I didn't move him far but he seemed to enjoy the fact that I was fighting him. I glared at him and tried to slide away but the fact that I still had a bit of sharp metal in my back made me pause. The only way to get it out without anymore damage was to move forward. Raising my hands I pushed him back while moving forward. He grabbed my back, digging his finger where my gash was. I cried out and pushed him away from me, trying to get his finger away from my wound. Glaring at me he pushed me effectively making me crash onto my ass. He grabbed my foot and dragged me towards him while kneeling by me. Once he had me under him he lifted his finger, the one with my blood one it, to his mouth, grinning as he licked it clean. Suddenly I didn't want to get away from him, no, I wanted to get _closer_. I placed the feeling as a side effect but it was too intense to ignore. Leaning up I captured his lips in my, confusing him but he seemed to recover as he held my face to his. "Bastard" I mumbled against him as he ran his hand underneath my tank top. "Bitch" He replied while undoing my bra.

As he shrugged my tank top and bra off of me I quickly got rid of his shirt, running my hands down his chest. One thing was on my mind, as well as his, and as he reached for my pants I grinned. This seemed to be a whole new part of me not even I explored. He quickly had my pants off and he wasted no time removing my panties. This was lust, pure and simple, there was no love here, no tenderness has his fingers dug into my arm. I removed his pants all the while never moving my lips from his. It didn't matter that he wasn't gentle; I wanted to feel his fingers digging into my side as he roughly gave me what I wanted. It didn't take long till our body's were in twined and I threw my head back with a moan. He gripped my side with one hand while the other explored my curves, my chest, and every part of me. We were on the ground, in the dust and I could feel the pain in my back as dirt and other little things dug their way through my flesh. I gripped his back, digging my nails into his skin as he moved back and forth in me. He wasn't large but I was smaller than him and his body covered mine. Moaning into a kiss I rolled us over as I readied myself for the sweet release I felt coming. As I fell over into bliss he soon followed with a grunt of his own. I collapsed upon him, waiting for him to shrug me aside as I caught my breathe. But he surprised me as he gently ran his fingers down my back and over my ass. Though the surprise was short lived as he shoved me away and got up, grinning down at me as I glared up at him. "Fucker" I mumbled quietly before looking away, my mind slowly becoming mine again. "You wanted it" He said before putting his pants on and walking back to his lonely rock. As his words hit me I cringed slightly. I had. I had wanted him. Hell at that point it didn't matter who it was. My face went red in shame. What the fuck had just happened?

I grabbed my clothes that had been thrown aside and pulled on my panties and jeans quickly. I had turned away from him to put my clothes back on, modesty suddenly springing back up. I had just put my bra back on and was going to shrug my tank top on when a hand pushed me back into my car, though this time I wasn't near the gash in it. I gasped as something wet touched my gash. 'Fuck' I thought as it stuck. It must have been alcohol as the wound was, surprisingly, gently washed and cleaned. As the bandage, wherever the hell the supplies came from, was placed on the wound I turned my head to look at Lizard, but he was already walking back to the rock. "Thanks" I mumbled before pulling the tank top back over my torso. I didn't bother to look at him for the rest of the time I was looking at the gash in my car. Sighing as I could do nothing about it I grabbed a towel from the trunk after glancing at an apparently sleeping Lizard and placing it on top of my car. Time for a good ole' cat nap. I smiled to myself. But it was soon wiped away. I felt dirty now, as if I did something I shouldn't have. I snorted. I did do something I shouldn't have. I couldn't understand what possessed me to do what I did. To have sex with..._him_.

I climbed on top of my car before closing my eyes. Realizing this would be the perfect time to tan my legs I rolled up my jeans and removed my tank top. My cheeks went red again as I glanced over at Lizard. Even though he had seen me in my birthday suit I wasn't about to let him see me again. Relaxing as I saw, well sort of saw him sleeping I laid down and let myself drift off. The sun was hot, but I always found that taking cat naps in extreme heat helps a little and in this case it did. I was suddenly startled from my cat nap when a pair of keys flew at my stomach. I had rolled over onto my side while dozing and an 'oomph' escaped my lips as I opened my eyes to see Lizard walking towards me. "Get movin' bitch, we're movin' da car to da village" He said while moving around to the passenger side. Groggily I mumbled my reply before blushing once again as I realized I didn't have a shirt on. But he seemed irritated about something to even notice my lack of a shirt. Glaring slightly I figured this was going to be a great ride back.


	3. Chapter 3

I had sat down in the car after yanking on my tank top. My car read 4:30 and I sighed. Lizard was sitting in the next seat but I ignored him, as he ignored me. I started the car and put it in drive before realizing where we were going. I glanced over at Lizard and he simply pointed towards the hills. I started forwards and soon noticed that there was a path, just the right size for my car to get through. A hidden road to the test village. Marking this in my mind I slowly and carefully navigated the road till we could see the village ahead. Still he had said nothing, and I liked it that way. It didn't take long for us to reach the village, far less time than it took to walk. I stopped the car just outside the village, refusing to bring it closer. It seemed so weird that I would be here with these freaky mutants pulling a brand new car into an old broken down village. It was then that I realized that I wanted to go home, I didn't belong here, hell I didn't want to be here. I could feel the emotion coursing through me, tears starting to form in my eyes but I held them in determined not to show them that they where getting to me. I glanced over when I heard the passenger side door shut. I opened my own door and found Lizard standing there, glaring at me as if I was wasting his time. What the fuck else did he have to do? He grabbed the keys from my hand. Taking my arm he pulled me back to the same house I was in before. Looks like I'll be doing nothing for the next five hours.

Once in the room he left, and I was thankful. I slid against one of the walls and put my head on my knees. Finally the tears fell down my face. I didn't want to be here, I couldn't stand this. I was here with a bunch of people that seemed to come straight out of a fucking horror movie. Why didn't I leave with my friends? It was then that I remembered why I was here. I had given up going home to save them, I knew the moment I shoved them away that I wasn't coming back. Because of me they got away, I was the biggest threat to these people, and because of that they were more interested in me than my friends. But was it worth this? Was it worth being subjected to saving killers? I didn't have to, I know I don't have to save them but what happens when I tell them no? Was it worth giving into desires that I didn't know where there? I gave a sob of frustration. I told Michelle I would come back, granted I was lying. But that did that mean I should just let them kill me?

It was then that the door opened silently. I wasn't aware of who it was until I saw their shoes. Looking up I stared into Ruby's eyes. She looked concerned, puzzled, and sorry. "You okay?" She stuttered slightly. I gave her a weak smile before nodding my head. "Just a little shaken up Ruby" I said softly and she moved to sit next to me. She was the only one here with a heart, only one here willing to save instead of kill. The only one here trying to have values, not take whatever they want when they want to. I realized finally, that she was my cause. I would do everything in my power to get her out of here. I would take care of her as my own and we would live together somewhere else. As I stared at the little girl next to me I realized that I may have a choice, live here or die defying the monsters outside, but Ruby didn't. She was stuck here until she died and I didn't want her to die the way she does. "Ruby, can you keep a secret?" I asked quietly, glancing at the open door to see an old and dusty T.V playing fuzzy rerun's of an old show. She nodded her head and said, what I thought was a yes but sounded more like a hiss. "In five days, I'm leaving and you're coming with me" I said softly while watching her reactions. "If you want that is" I added as I saw her shocked reaction. "Bu' wha' abou' Papa Jupiter an' Lizard an'…" She trailed off, her t's almost silent. I shook my head with a soft smile on my face. "Don't worry about them okay?" I grabbed her hand, not caring that her fingers seemed fused together. "If we can leave will you come with me?" I asked her an almost pleading look in my eyes. She seemed to think about it for awhile before nodding her head. "I will" She said softly, her words barely coherent. It was going to take some practice but she would be eloquent. I smiled as I faintly heard someone calling her. "Better run along Ruby, but remember, you got to keep this a secret" I put my finger to my lips as she nodded her head and walked out the door.

I laid my head against the wall and closed my eyes. "How the hell am I supposed to pull this off?" I muttered to myself before glancing out the window. Ruby skipped from view and I wondered if she would keep the secret. I hoped or I was in for a world of hurt. I pondered for a while before coming up with a sort of plan. Once they earned my trust enough by finding out that my predictions where true I was hoping to be rid of my guard. With him not hanging on my shoulder anymore than I could get Ruby and we could leave, take the car and use the hidden road and leave the village for good. 'Damn, I've only been here one day and already I feel as if I'm insane, being locked in here' I thought ruefully to myself. I climbed back into my chair to get ready for another cold ass night. I shivered as I remembered last night. I couldn't do that again. Somehow I needed to find an extra blanket or something, cause there was no way I was going to freeze my ass of, but there's no way in hell I would sleep in the same bed as Lizard. It was then that I thought of the stuff in my car. 'Shit' I thought to myself grimacing. I should have grabbed something when I was at my car. Getting up from my seat I went to the window, peeking out to see what was going on. Not seeing anyone roaming around outside I looked for my car, spotting it not far from the house where I had left it.

Feeling courageous, or maybe just retarded, I went to the door and opened it as quietly as I could. I peeked out, seeing the same T.V as before and smiling a bit. I now recognized the show as Gilligan's Island reruns. The room with the T.V was down the hall and the door was to my left, I wouldn't pass that room if I went out the front door. But because someone might be out that way I snuck towards the back, praying that I wasn't caught. I knew they really wouldn't do anything to me but I wasn't about to get caught doing something I should be able to do freely. I slipped past the room quietly, glancing in to see its inhabitant. What I saw surprised me, besides being overly obese and bald; a woman sat in a chair, looking at the flickering and fuzzy black and white T.V. I almost felt bad; the only form of entertainment in this hell hole was a broken down T.V. Almost though. I turned to the door, opening it quietly though a creak was heard and I'm sure the women, Big Mama as I gathered when I learned her fate, looked over but I was out the door by that time. I glanced down the road to see no one and stealthily ran to my car. Don't forget that I was trained to be the definition of stealthy. I made it to my car and was relieved when I noticed it opened. But fear and anger welled up when I noticed that everything in my car, my possessions, the blanket, a pillow, _everything_ was gone. I clenched my fist in an effort not to blow up and go find the bastard that took my stuff.

After I had my anger in check, sort of, I shut the door quietly and snuck back inside. I looked at the T.V. and sighed. There was no reason I couldn't help out…was there? Walking into the living room I smiled kindly at Big Mama who seemed startled to see me. "Ma'am, can I fix the T.V for you?" I asked, army respect kicking in. She seemed confused but nodded her head yes. I went over to look at the T.V and smirked as I figured out the probably. Reaching over I tuned the T.V and then got back up and smiled. "There you go Ma'am" I said smiling at her. She smiled back at me and shook her head. "Call me Big Mama" She said and I was surprised that her speech was pretty good. Smiling I nodded my head. "Alright Big Mama" She smiled as I said it in an almost motherly way. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew she ate others, and that her smile was a little strained I would have probably felt comfortable. I wasn't one to discriminate against how people looked.

I turned around and the smile was wiped off of my face. Leaning against the door frame, stood Lizard, and he didn't look to happy. His glare slipped from my face over to Big Mama. She seemed not to be phased by him and she just smiled and pointed to the T.V. "Look what she done Lizzy" I almost rose an eyebrow at Big Mama's nickname for Lizard but didn't as Lizard looked back at me. "I see that Big Mama" He said quietly before reaching out to grab my arm and pull me from the room. Since I knew where I was going he just shoved my shoulder and walked behind me back to my…well his room. I wasn't sure what to expect as we walked into the room but as my mind cleared from the surprise of Lizard seeing me helping Big Mama I turned around with a glare of my own on my face. "Where did you put my stuff?" I said while reminding myself that he couldn't hurt me.

He just smirked and shrugged before leaning against the door like I had found him. "What the fuck are ya doin' messin' wit Big Mama's Telovision" The way he said Television made me want to laugh, but instead I glared at him. "So what, I was hel…" I paused realizing what I was going to say. I was helping Big Mama, which meant I was helping the mutants in a way. He grinned as I turned away angry with him, me, this place, my fucking 'sixth sense', everything. I didn't hear him leave but when I turned around to sit in the chair he was gone, his grinning face playing in my head. Damn him. I moved to the door and tried to turn the knob. Grumbling to myself I glared at the knob. He had shut the door when he had left, and locked it. Wanting to scream in frustration but holding it in I chose not to sit in the chair like I had last time. I moved over to the window and stood looking over at the sun that was about ready to set. I hoped that Michelle, Kandi, and Jenna had made it back home okay, it had been almost two days since I had made them go home, I was sure that they were safely home. I made the mistake of glancing at a figure that caught the corner of my eye. It was Pluto, dragging behind him what looked like a body…a dead body. I looked away, grimacing as I realized that could have very well been me or one of my friends. The weight of what went on here finally hit me and I realized this was way bigger than me. People were _dying_. And I had offered to save their killers. If anything I should be the one killing them.

It wouldn't matter though because no matter how repulsed and disgusted and distressed I was, the other half, the artificial me wanted to stay and revel in this world. This world of blood and gore, of lust and sex, here the other me could have what it wanted. Watching death day after day just for the hell of it. I realized then just what they had done to me four years ago. They hadn't made a super soldier; they had made a killer, a fucking killer out of me. And as I thought of this I realized I was slowly losing my mind. It wasn't even from being here; since I had changed four years ago I had been slowly going insane.

I smirked ruefully to myself. This is what it took to show me that I'm going insane. Sighing I didn't want to think anymore, I was tired and confused and angry with myself. Not wanting to sleep in the cold again I half smirked as I grabbed the blanket on the bed. I really wasn't thinking, I just wanted to be warm and to sleep. I yawned as I laid the dirty blanket that smelled of blood and...well…him over me and curled up in the uncomfortable chair. It didn't take me long to fall asleep and I was content for a few hours.

I was half awake by the time the blanket was half off me and my arm shot out to punch whoever was taking the blanket from me. The rest of my body followed and I was surprised to find myself in another interesting position. The fist that had shot out had clipped his chin, but he hadn't been fazed and had grabbed my wrist while I had launched myself out of the chair to tackle whoever was taking my warmth away. Which left me squashed up against him while he grabbed my waist to keep my from smashing into him any more than I already was. He wasn't happy that I had tried to hit him but when he noticed my confused, and slightly frightened, expression his frown turned to a full blown grin. It took my brain a few moments to catch up with what was going on before I glared and pulled back from him. When he didn't let go of my waist, or my wrist, I practically shoved myself against him, which in his surprise of my not so predicted reaction let go of my waist and wrist to take a step back so he wouldn't fall on his ass. I kind of hoped he would have, as it would have been a hilarious site, but I continued to glare at him till he glared back and moved to the bed.

He did as he had last night, and I turned away to look at the chair with disgust. I was shivering by then and I didn't want to go back to sitting in the cold ass chair. Glancing briefly over my shoulder I saw he was already in bed and the blanket was spread across the whole bed when last night he had simply pulled the whole thing onto him. An invitation perhaps? He seemed to have shut his eyes and appeared to be sleeping, but nobody really fell asleep that quick. Did they? Sighing I realized that I needed the sleep and even if I had to sleep in his bed didn't mean I was sleeping with him...in that way. Crawling carefully into the bed, keeping to the very edge of the bed I could have swore I heard him chuckle and with a frown on my face I closed my eyes in relief to have the warmth covering me.

When the sun peeked through the window I wanted to groan, but was stopped short when I felt something against my back. It was defiantly not the blankets and as I moved my head to see what was touching me I realized Lizard was closer than he was last night. Granted he hadn't moved from his hand over waist and head position but I had a sneaking suspicion that he had moved. Till I looked back over to the other side of the bed, it seemed that I had been the one to move as the edge of the bed was farther away than it had been when I fell asleep. I began to move towards the edge of the bed when Papa Jupiter banged the door open, causing Lizard to sit up rather slowly, either he knew that Papa Jupiter was going to storm in or he was still sleepy. I froze with a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look as Jupiter looked over at me than at Lizard a grin on his face. I blushed even though I, we, hadn't done anything and I quickly scampered out of the bed and stood in the far corner. It wasn't till I nervously pushed some of my brunette hair out of my face that I realized how dirty I must be. I made a face and looked back at the two talking. I didn't pay much attention to their talk until one of them mentioned running down to the gas station. My interest perked, because despite having an outhouse there was a fully functional bathroom inside for those who didn't want to use the outhouse. I listened closely to their talk. "How the fuck are we gunna get all that shit here?" Lizard asked annoyed at either being awake or something that Jupiter had said earlier. "That's yer problem, get it here" Jupiter said shrugging before moving out the door. I smirked as I realized the perfect solution. "You do realize there, Love" I smirked as I got Lizards attention. "That I happen to have a car" I said the last bit a little slower, as if talking to a child. He glared at me before considering my words. "So? You got a fuckin' car" He seemed not to care at my rather rude offer but I knew he was thinking about it.

Seeing no other choice or maybe he didn't want to waste time with a staring match with me, he grabbed the keys from the dresser before chucking them at me. "Hey, I want to take a shower when we're there, where are my clothes?" I asked as casually as I could, as if I wasn't talking to a cannibalistic psycho who seemed intent on either fucking me or eating me. He smirked at me as if I had asked him a simple question a two year old could answer. "Here" He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a drawer filled with _my_ clothes. Glaring I almost had a fit though I walked over to grab some of my clothes. "What the fuck are they doing here?" I said while yanking what I would need from the drawer. He grinned at me before handing me the keys to my car. "At least we didn' throw 'em out bitch" He said before rushing me out the door where I almost tripped over Ruby. I stopped short which made Lizard run into me, grabbing onto my arm to steady himself. Gee, way to think of the lady' I thought to myself before smiling at Ruby. "Hey Ruby, what are you doing?" I asked kindly completely forgetting about bad ass, hehe not really, behind me. "I wa' comin' tah fin' you" Her sentence was poorly said, broken in many parts and hardly coherent but I understood non-the-less. "Well I'm going to the gas station..." I trailed off when I saw her face. Obviously she wanted to spend time with me. "Would you like to come with?" She nodded her head enthusiastically while Lizard snorted behind me. He opened his mouth behind me but I turned around quickly and shoved him back in the room. "Ruby, can you go wait by the car?" I didn't wait for her reply but shut the door and glared at Lizard. "She's going with" I said with the famous 'I'm right you're wrong' voice. "Ta hell she is" He retorted before I sighed. "I'm not going to fight with you" I looked up at him, a familiar look in my eye. "Remember how I told you that someone here was going to kill you?" He narrowed his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Hit a nerve did I big boy? I snickered to myself inside but continued to glare with that gleam in my eye. "Well it's Ruby" At my words he seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking and an enraged look came across his face. He started for the door but I planted myself in front of it. "Look, don't go out there and beat the shit out of her" I shook my head. "It'll only make her more willing to do what she does" He seemed to pause for a moment and I quickly launched into my defense for her. "I'm suggesting she go with so she can get to know me, and hopefully want to spend her time with me" I looked at him as he raised and eyebrow. "If she wants to be with me she'll be more eager to stay when I ask her to" I raised my eyebrow in return and he seemed to get what I was talking about. "Exactly" I said a grin on my face, but my heart pulling at what I was doing to Ruby. She so wanted to keep these people save.

After a brief moment he gave half a sigh. "Fine, she can come with, but you have tah watch her" He grabbed the handle of the door as I moved. "Cause I don't want nothing to do wit her" He growled as he flung the door open to walk out. I sighed, had I just fucked up Ruby's life here? Hopefully not. When I walked outside Ruby had a frown on her face as Lizard brushed quite coldly by her and slammed the front passenger door shut once he had climbed in. "DAMNITT DON"T SLAM THE FUCKN' DOOR" I screamed at him in which he turned his eyes wide as I stood there fuming. He then started to laugh, I mean he started to laugh. He was holding his sides as he laughed. I wasn't sure what was so funny but when I noticed Ruby looking behind me I glanced over my shoulder to find Pluto and Jupiter staring at me as if I had another head. Blushing I walked over to the car, opening the door and pulling the seat forwards motioning to Ruby to get in. Temper in check I ignored Lizard who was still grinning at me. Instead I started the car and looked back at Ruby. "I've got a song I want you to listen to." I said grinning. She looked at me funny but I ignored it as I turned to a certain song on my mixed CD. It happened to be one of my favorites, Michelle getting me addicted to it.

_I'm in trouble I'm an addict  
I'm addicted to this girl _

As soon as it started I started to sing along while backing out of my spot and turning around. Lizard looked at me funny while I sang to the song. We were soon on our way while I was navigating through the small hidden road.

_She's got my heart tied in a knot  
And my stomach in a whirl _

_But even worse I can't stop calling her  
She's all I want and more  
I mean damn,  
What's not to adore _

Ruby had started to smile, a giggle leaving her mouth as Lizard narrowed his eyes but continued to stare as I sung the song. I wasn't a bad singer, in fact I had been pressured to join choir because my friends liked my voice.

_I've been playing to much guitar  
I...I've been listening to jazz  
I called so many times  
I swear she's going mad  
And that cellular-er will be the death of us  
I swear, I swear_

I watched with a smile as Ruby clapped her hands out of beat but I didn't care. I glanced at Lizard and found his look puzzling, he stared at me with a glare, but there was something else there but I couldn't place the emotion. Glancing back at the road I kept singing to Ruby.

_And oh oh oh oh oh oh oh  
Oooh oooh oooh_

I'm running my mouth just like I got her  
But I surely don't  
Because she's so-o-o-o-o-o-o  
Rock and roll!  
And out of my league  
Is she out of my league?  
Let's hope...not 

We had reached the spot where I had stopped my car but I didn't hesitate or slow down. If anything I sped up. My voice the only thing steady about me then. My hands were shaking as I wondered about my friends.

_I'm in trouble  
I'm so cliché  
See that word just wares me out  
Makes me feel like just another boy  
To laugh and joke about  
But even worse I cant stop calling her  
I love to hear that voice  
And honestly, I'm left with no choice  
_

I heard Ruby giggle in the background and I glanced to smile at her. She seemed so happy right now. I decided then that I was going to teach her to dance.

_I've been playing to much guitar  
I...I've been listening to jazz  
I called so many times  
I swear she's going mad  
And that cellular-er will be the death of us  
I swear, I swear  
_

I glanced at Lizard but quickly looked away as he still stared at me.

_And oh oh oh oh oh oh oh  
Oooh oooh oooh_

I'm running my mouth just like I got her  
But I surely don't  
Because she's so-o-o-o-o-o-o  
Rock and roll!  
And out of my league  
Is she out of my league?  
Let's hope not 

I smiled as we turned down the road towards the gas station realizing that I would soon find out the fate of my friends.

_And oh oh oh oh oh oh oh  
Oooh oooh oooh ooh ooh oooh oh_

The song ended and Ruby clapped while I reached for the dial to turn down the music. She smiled at me before putting a hand on my shoulder. I glanced back at her as she looked at me in all seriousness. "You have pretty voice" She tried hard to form the words, missing the, a, that belonged between have and pretty. But she was damn close. "Thank you Ruby" I said while pulling into the station. I put the car in park and turned the engine off when Lizard's faint words met my ears. "Yes she does" He seemed to murmur to himself as he got out of the car. Looking back I noticed I must have been the only person to hear him. Puzzled for a moment I quietly got out of the car before letting Ruby out. Bending down quietly I told her to stay in the driver's seat while I left the car door open. Lizard had walked in before me but I was determined to get my answer about my friends whether or not he was there or not. I could tell the minute I walked through the door that the old man, Jeb from what I heard, was not happy that Lizard was standing in his store. He was surprised to see me walk in, even more surprised when I just brushed past Lizard. "Jeb, you remember the three girls with me" I said smiling at him. "Did they make it home okay?" I could feel Lizard's glare on my back but I had ears and eyes only for Jeb. He glanced at Lizard before simply nodding and looking at me like I was stupid. "Good, now do you mind if I use your shower?" This question caught him off guard and my smile seemed to give him one choice. "Uhh, ya sure" He said before pointing towards the back. "Thanks" I said cheerfully though my smile hadn't been. I heard the two men talking about something, one calm and cocky, the other not very happy. It didn't matter to me all I wanted was a fresh, hot shower.

I entered the bathroom to find it…sort of clean. At least he had shampoo in here. I started the shower before stripping of my dirty ass clothes and stepping into the warmth of the shower. I sighed and relaxed for the first time in this place. I quickly washed my hair and soaped my dirty body while I smiled about finally smelling clean. When I had finished I jumped out and looked at the clothes I had brought. A black bra with red panties. Great. A pink t-shirt with a pair of denim…short shorts. Absolutely wonderful. Sighing I put the clothes on hoping that Lizard didn't feel the urge to take them off. Sighing I realized that I didn't have a brush to brush my long brunette hair out. Hoping that Lizard hadn't raided my glove compartment to I walked out to see Jeb sitting in a chair inside looking quite uncomfortable. "Hey Jeb, thanks for letting me use the shower" If he heard me he didn't really say but I think he might have nodded. I walked out the door to see my trunk open and filled with…water, some other things, and the most noticeable, ramen noodles, canned soup, bread, and various other things. Almost squealing with glee I ran to the trunk to grab a box of pop tarts to snack down before we left but the trunk closed, almost catching my fingers. "HEY" I whined when Lizard smirked at me. "We gotta go" He said simply before climbing into the care. My stomach growled its protest but I climbed into the care anyways. Ruby was in the back, extremely quite and I wondered what was wrong but when I turned to ask her Lizard grabbed my arm before motioning to the wheel. Sighing I started the car before throwing Ruby a small worried frown.

No one talked on the way; it was quiet as I didn't play any music. We got to the village shortly and Jupiter walked out to help bring stuff out of the trunk. Half the stuff went to Lizard's house while the rest went to a house a couple of houses down. It seemed they were really going to let me live as I had free reign to all the food in the house after we unloaded everything. I sat eating the food that was quickest to make, which happen to be pop tarts, in the living room with Big Mama while we watched Gilligan's Island. I didn't want to sit in the room all by myself and eat and Ruby had run off so I decided to sit with Big Mama. She was nice, occasional chatter but we mostly stuck to the T.V. Lizard occasionally walked past the living room, whether he was checking to make sure I hadn't left or he was busy with something I didn't know and I didn't bother to figure out. It went on like this until it grew dark and Big Mama left her T.V and I went back to the kitchen to find something to eat. Again. I had been starving when I ravaged the cupboards for the food we had brought home. I was very surprised that they had been so…considerate as to bring food for me to eat. I had finished making a sandwich when Lizard walked in, staring at me with a frown on his face. "Stop eatin' all the damned food" He shook his head. "It's a wonder ya aint' as fat as fuck" I just smirked. It wasn't my metabolism that kept me slim; it was the daily exercise that I usually had each morning. "I have my ways." I said simply before biting into the sandwich, making sure to take as big as a bit as I could. "Besides it's not like _you're_ going to eat any of the food." I said as he gave me a disgusted look as if eating normal food was disgusting. Ya, right.

I finished my sandwich and sighed. I was going to get fat if I didn't work out at some point. In the morning I would deal with it but for now I glanced up to see Lizard frown at me, roll his eyes (like a child he he), and leave the way he came. I took that moment to move into the room I shared with him. I opened the drawer that had all of my clothes within it and smirked. I pulled off my shorts and shoved a pair of army sweats, and an old army shirt before throwing a Wisconsin sweat-shirt over it. Now I could sleep in the chair without worrying about being cold. Now if I could do something about the uncomfortable feeling the chair gave. I turned to see Lizard walking in to the room, a frown on his face when he saw my change of clothes. "What? I didn't want to freeze my ass off tonight" He seemed irritated more that I was sleeping in the chair and as I pass him I shrugged my shoulder's smirking. "Shouldn't have told me where my clothes were if you wanted me in bed that bad" I said with a short laugh before moving towards the door, only to find myself pressed up against the wall just short of the door. And there was Lizard, his sneering face close to my own. Shock filled my eyes as I looked at him. "Wha' makes you think I couldn't get ya in bed right now?" He said it with such conviction I actually thought he was going to. My heart pounded as I realized that he might actually force me to do what I didn't want to do. But he backed off and glared at me before turning away.

I was stunned so I didn't move as he took off his shirt and climbed into bed. He glanced over at me before grinning. "Shut the damn light off" He growled at me which made me reach almost robotically, the whole while he watched me, to shut the light off. Needless to say it was an interesting night. I couldn't get to sleep as I listened to his breathing. It was some time before I finally fell asleep, thinking of what was going to happen three days from now. Could I pull it off and get Ruby and myself out of this hell hole? I sure as hell hoped so.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning I awoke early, earlier than Lizard who was obviously in a deep sleep because I slipped out of the room without his notice. I had taken the sweatshirt off and had my army shirt on along with my pants. I had walked over to my car and grabbed my I-pod when something caught my attention. Glancing over to the hills I strained my eyes but when nothing stood out I shrugged my shoulders and put my headphones in. Stretching out my muscles I readied myself for the, what I would estimate, three mile run I was about to partake in. Putting my hair up in a pony tail I sighed before breaking out in a jog towards the hidden road. I would probably make it to the gas station in about two hours as long as I keep my pace the same. I totally lost myself in the jog as I listened to the songs that my I-pod played. I kept my gaze ahead and when I had gotten off the hidden road I had to smile. I had only a light sweat coating my body and I was still feeling quite energetic. I ran for about another half hour before realizing I was not going to make it to the gas station and back, I would have if I had stayed as fit as I could be. I turned around to head back when a flash of light caught my attention. This time I didn't have my rifle, which seems to have disappeared from my trunk, to see what was going on so instead I just ignored it. Not my business to pry.

It took me another half hour to get back to the Test Village but I made it. As I put my I-pod back into my glove compartment I was aware of shouting, familiar shouting. Coming around the corner of a house I noticed Lizard yelling at…Ruby? Gritting my teeth I made it over there just in time to hear him cussing her out like there was no tomorrow. "WHAT THE FUCK" I screamed at him grabbing his shoulder to pull him away from the poor girl who looked nearly to tears. What happened next happened so fast I hadn't realized what had hit me until I felt the blood drip down my lip. Lizard had spun around to back hand me hard enough to snap my head to the side and split my lip. I looked back over at him with widened eyes as he glared at me with a mixture of slight shock, glee, and pity? No not pity. I didn't know what it was but I didn't care as my façade went from shocked to absolutely pissed in less than two seconds. Faster than I think he would have expected me, if he had expected it; I swung my fist at his face. I grinned as I felt it connect but it was wiped off as he grabbed my arm and twisted it making me go with it to keep out of pains way. Not giving up I slammed my foot up, getting him in the balls. As he cringed forwards I whipped around to knee him in the face. Only my knee didn't connect and I felt two rather large hands grab my arms and drag me away as Lizard straightened up, a pained look still on his face. I was wiggling, screaming profanities at him as Jupiter stepped in between us.

He glared down at me before opening his mouth to speak. "Wha' the fuck is going on?" He practically yelled in my face as Lizard tried to press past him. He didn't make it as Jupiter gave him a look and Lizard settled for looking extremely pissed. "The bastard hit me, what did you want me do?" I glared over at Lizard as he grumbled something under his breath. Jupiter looked irritated with both of us, more at Lizard I think. Or I like to believe. "So? Don' mean you gotta hit 'em back" He was probably referring to the shot to the balls, but I just snorted. "Your not suppose to hit ladies you know" With that Lizard turned around and laughed at me "You 'aint a lady, you're a bitch" He sneered at me, which got me going again and I struggled against whomever was holding me, Pluto I think. "Shut the fuck up you bastard" I said before stepping on Pluto's foot on accident. Surprised he let go just a little bit, but enough for me to slip out of his grasp and go for Lizard. I had surprised Jupiter and Lizard both and had gotten one hand on his clothes before Jupiter grabbed me by my waist and hauled me away from Lizard who had grinned and was about to hit me again. Instead of setting me down he threw me over his shoulder and carried me back to the house that I had taken residence to, while I screamed profanities at Lizard and pounded on Jupiter's back. We went through the house, I was still screaming profanities, and we passed through the living room, Big Mama looking curiously at me. We made it to the bedroom where Jupiter roughly dropped me on the bed. "Stay here" He said before shutting the door. Noticing once again that the door had not been locked I had an itching urge to go after Lizard again. But instead I sighed. What was the point? Jupiter would just have to pull us apart and I wouldn't get a hit in anyways. As my temper settled I began to feel bad for Pluto, I hadn't meant to step on his foot, it was an accident and I hope he wouldn't hold it against me. My door cracked open and I glared at it till Ruby's head popped in. My glare turned to a smile as I motioned for her to come in. She gasped at the blood on my lip and she hurried over to my side. Once there she raised a hand to wipe it off. "You okay?" She asked, stuttering. I nodded my head while smiling at her. "Yes" I said before she glanced outside. A frown came to my face as hers saddened. "Ruby, what happened?" She looked down but didn't say anything. "It's okay to tell me Ruby" I said kindly though she just shook her head and backed away. I let her walk away from the room and I wondered what Lizard could have possibly yelled at her for. Though what I heard wasn't exactly yelling. It was more like screaming. So for the rest of the night I sat upon the bed and waited for him to return so I could interrogate him.

When he finally did show up he glared at me but I just looked at him. "What happened?" I asked quietly. He just smirked and went to the other side of the bed. "Tell me what happened Lizard" I said but he just turned away from me. "Why should I?" I could tell that he wasn't happy at all even though the grin was there. Sighing I wouldn't get an answer out of him like that, nor with violence, so the only option left... "Lizard, won't you tell me?" I whispered to him. He had stopped doing whatever and turned to look at me as I slid off the bed. He was surprised and unprepared as I pressed myself against him. He had dropped whatever he had in his hands to place them hesitantly upon my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck while leaning up towards his face. "Please?" I whined to him as he gripped my sides. He knew what I was doing, but the fact that I had thrown myself to him was surprising and before he really knew what he was doing he had whispered into my ear. "She…ah...helped a bitch" He paused as I kissed his cheek. "Get away" When he was done with his last words I smirked to myself before stepping away. "Thanks" I said before going to walk around him. And like last night he stopped me. Unlike last night I'm pretty sure he wasn't going to let me go. He stared at me with something else in his eye besides anger and want.

Despite telling myself never again would this happen I let it as his mouth crashed onto my own. Instead of ripping my clothes off like last time the kiss lingered, his hands stroking my sides softly as he pushed me down upon the bed. His fingers ran up to my chest and I groaned as he ran his fingers teasingly over one breast. 'Damnitt' I thought to myself as his other hand ran lower. It wasn't like I wanted it, but the way he was now it was hard to say no. When he reached down to take my shirt off it was then that my other half kicked in. I learned soon that it wasn't another half of me, the things I felt since four years ago had been dark desires that had finally been released. My shirt was off and I was capturing his lips again, our kiss deepening as he worked my bra off. It was a blur, what happened, the next thing I knew I was completely naked and he was nibbling at my neck. His grip had grown almost painful, but I didn't mind. I wanted to feel his fingers dig into my skin as he moved down to my breast. He took a nipple into his mouth and I moaned, arching my back as a wave of pleasure hit me. It wasn't long after that, that he had his own clothes off and was staring at me while waiting for something. Grabbing his arms I pulled him down and as our lips kissed for the third time, he plunged into me. I moaned into his mouth, as he grinned at me. He started slow at first, his fingers running up and down my flesh. His pace picked up and I groaned as his fingers dug into my arm while he watched my face contort in pleasure. It soon wasn't what it had started out to be and we were both groaning and moaning from the pace he was setting. My hips bucked up to meet his and soon I began to feel the familiar feeling that surely meant a climax. He thrust a few more times before I arched my back for the final time and brought his mouth to mine to muffle my cry. He climaxed soon afterwards and we lay panting upon the bed.

Surprisingly to me he didn't move from my side but curled his arms around my small frame almost lovingly. I was too tired to do or say anything and I just fell asleep content to accept his arms for warmth that one time. I buried my face into his chest and let out a sigh as my eyes closed and I faded from consciousness.

I awake with a strange feeling of peacefulness and content. Not to mention I had been toasty warm through the night and I had finally gotten a good nights rest. It wasn't until I tried to move and found an arm securely latched around my waist, my naked waist, that I panicked. I reached for the arm and when I laid my hand upon it I realized who it was. Blushing madly I moved my hand to lie back over the pillow and noticed that I was completely naked. 'GOD DAMNITT' I screamed in my mind as I remembered what had taken place last night. How could I have let it happen AGAIN? I lay there quietly, not wanting to wake Lizard up and let him see the frustration and anger in my eyes. No doubt he would mock me and I was scared to even face him. See, because there would be another emotion in my eyes. Satisfaction. I hated it, hated what emotions he brought out when he did shit like this. I glanced over at the chair I usually woke up in and noticed my phone. How long ago had I used it? And remembering the day that I last used it reminded me of what day it was. Tomorrow was the day those people come, I had to help them survive tomorrow. With those thoughts I shoved Lizard's arm away from me and moved off the bed to get dressed. I had to go speak with Big Brain. It wasn't till I was dressed and walking out the door that I realized Lizard was waiting for me. How the hell did he get out of bed without my notice? I must have been trying so hard to ignore him that I had.

Not bothering to look at him I walked out the door. My stomach grumbled quietly so I grabbed a package of pop tarts to eat on the way. I had walked out the door and was eating the first one when I felt Lizard pull on my arm. I turned to face him, mouth full of pop tart and raised an eyebrow at his expression. He seemed confused about something but when I looked at him he just glared and pushed me forward. What the fuck was that all about? I would have said something but I had a mouthful of food and I just wanted to get over to Big Brain and get over what I was going to talk to him about. We were about halfway to the house we were going to when the smell hit me. I dropped my food, clutched my stomach, a hand flying to my mouth and covering my nose, and almost emptied my stomach of my contents. I felt Lizard's hand on my shoulder and I glanced at him and saw that damn smirk on his face. "What's wrong?" He asked almost sweetly. I glared at him, abandoning the pop tart on the ground and holding my breath while glancing at the house we past. Unfortunately I shouldn't have. The door was open and someone was inside chopping up a dead body, the freezer they kept the extras in wide open and I could see various body parts along with too much blood. I had been in the army but I had never seen that much blood or corpses mangled in such ways. I side stepped away from the house, right into Lizard who grabbed my shoulders. I didn't care at that point; I just wanted to get away from the odor and the sight. Tears sprung into my eyes as they fell upon a smaller, boy or girl, mangled within the freezer.

Unlike what I would have thought Lizard steered me away from the house and towards where Big Brain was. He seemed to be surprising me a lot lately. We walked into the house, me silent, and Lizard still smirking at me. Big Brain glanced over at us and I sat down on the couch a few feet away from him. "I need my guns" I said, still a little gone from what I saw. Lizard snorted while Big Brain laughed. "I told you tomorrow they come, if you want my help I need my guns back" I said, a stubborn glare on my face. Big Brain considered for a moment before his eyes wandered away from me. "If they don't show, you have your guns to kill us with" He said with a good reason. "I wouldn't do that, I told you that I would help you and I don't lie" I said with a frown. I never have lied, never will lie and I wasn't going to start there. He looked back at me and nodded his head. Lizard moved over to another room and came back with my shotgun and sniper rifle. He pulled the Desert Eagle out of his belt loop and I shook my head. "Where's the other one?" I said still glaring at them. They both looked at me with a puzzled look. In which I returned with a frown. "Where the fu…" I stopped mid sentence. I remembered then and a light blush came to my face. I had given the other one to Kandi. I fell silent and looked out the window to watch Jupiter pass by going who knows where. The other two were quiet while I stared outside and when I finally did turn around I found Lizard fiddling with my shotgun. Instead of glaring I simply walked past him, grabbing the sniper rifle. I would take the Desert Eagle and Sniper rifle back to the room me and Lizard shared and get the shotgun from him later.

It didn't take me long to get back to the room and when I opened the door I found Ruby sitting on the bed. A smile came to my face as I decided now was the perfect time to teach Ruby to dance. "Hello Ruby" I said while putting my guns on the floor. Ruby glanced at them before beaming at me. "Hello" Her hellos had improved greatly and that made me smile even more. "Ruby, would you like to learn how to dance today?" Her eyes got wide as she listened to me and I gave a soft laugh. "Yes" She said eagerly, her s hissing out. I laughed again and held out my hand for her to take. I turned around and stopped as I saw Lizard glaring down at us. I returned his glare and pushed past him, taking Ruby with me. We moved out to where my car was and I opened the door. "You can't dance without music" I told her with a wink at which she giggled. I turned on the same song I had played when we went to the Gas station and turned to Ruby. Grabbing her hands I started to sway side to side, waiting for her to pick up the simple motion. I giggled as she swayed along with me which made her giggle. Soon I was teaching her other dance moves, so soon we were dancing and she was doing a very good job at it. I giggled and we spun around before swaying again to the music. I started singing as we danced, which made Ruby giggle at me. She liked to hear me sing. We danced some more before we stopped, the songs turning to rock and I smiled down at her. "Good job Ruby" She smiled at me in turn and as I turned the music off I sighed. I had to ask her to do something she might not forgive me for. "Ruby" I said while turning to her. "Do you think you could do me a favor?" I asked with a soft smile on my face. She smiled back at me while shaking her head eagerly. "Can you stay in my room tomorrow? I have something that I'd like to put together but I don't have time to do it" She looked a little confused but nodded her head and I smiled. I was glad that one of my grandmother's old puzzles where in the back of my car. "See, I have this puzzle and it's really pretty so I thought that I'd put it together than frame it" She looked up at me curiously but I just smiled in encouragement and she smiled back. At that moment Lizard rounded the corner and I frowned. Ruby turned her head and I could feel her go pale. "Hey, come over tomorrow and I'll give you the puzzle" I whispered to her quietly and she nodded. Ruby ran off as Lizard came closer and I raised an eyebrow as he fiddled with my shotgun. "Quite messing with my shit" I told him with a glare and he only gave a half interested look before messing with my gun again. I stalked over to him to yank my gun from his hands but I stopped when he took it apart. "What the hell you doin'?" I yelled at him as he dropped one part and messed with another. I bent to pick up the other one, holding it to my chest like it was a discarded puppy.

He gave up with whatever he was doing and tossed the two pieces at me which I barely caught and he turned to walk back to the house. He gave me a look from over his shoulder, a glare and I sighed. I really hated being treated like a puppy. I started forward after shutting the car door. "Any special reason you were takin' apart my shotgun?" I asked him, glaring lightly at him. He just smirked at me and gave a shrug of his shoulder. "Bastard" I mumbled when he spun around and pinned me to the house. "Bitch" He replied before kissing me, my wise were wide with shock. I struggled, not wanting a repeat of last night. After a moment he pulled back, my arms were full of the pieces of my gun so I wasn't able to push him back. I glared at him as he smirked down at me. "What?" I said as he raised an eyebrow at me. "Do you want me to say thank you?" I said sarcastically to which he broke into a grin. Grumbling to myself I pushed past him to walk into the room. I put together my shotgun quickly and dropped it on the bed before walking over to sit on the other side and watching out the window. Lizard walked in a few seconds later and I heard his steps stop at the edge of the bed. My head was resting on my hand while I stared out the window. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He said growling at me, but I could hear a bit of curiosity or maybe it was concern. I sighed and for the first time I closed my eyes and allowed myself to slump in front of him. "You wouldn't understand" I said quietly while I tried not to fall into an emotional state. I didn't want to be here and it was hard to keep myself together. I was surprised to find him standing in front of me and I was immensely surprised when his hand lifted my face up to look at his. I expected to see some sort of humor there, and was surprised again when he looked at me with something like concern. "Tell me" He said simply.

My eyes started to water. Did he actually care? Probably not but for now he would have to do. "I don't want to be here, I don't want to kill those people" I murmured quietly and instantly his eyes hardened. He pushed me back, hands at my neck while he smirked down at me. "I could kill ya now" He whispered at me, a crazed look in his eyes. "I could give you want you want" He murmured to me while leaning in close. I closed my eyes and his hands tightened on my neck. Even though I was almost willing to let him squeeze the life out of me I had to stay, for Ruby. "No" I choked out. And he looked at me curiously. "You sure?" He smirked at me and I looked at him, fear plain in my eyes as he squeezed harder. "Yes! Yes I am" I said while grabbing his wrist trying to get him to stop. He watched me for a second before letting go. I rolled over onto my side and took in a few unsteady breathes and coughed a couple of times. Instead of getting up I stayed there, curling into a little ball and waiting for sleep to come over me. It wasn't too late but I wanted the day to be done, but I didn't want to wake to tomorrow. As my eyes closed I faintly heard the door close and I curled into a tighter ball. 'Tomorrow was going to kill me' I told myself. But little did I know it wasn't me who was going to be dying.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry for the bit of wait for this chapter and I hope that you all enjoy it! I do not own Hills have Eyes, just Jessi xD

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I woke up on the fifth day of my stay at the Test Village pretty comfortably. I was lying upon the bed with the blanket covering me and I was taking up most of the bed. I was groggy and really hadn't noticed the fact that I wasn't in a small ball as last night at the edge of the bed. Blinking my eyes a couple of times I glared at a few strands of my brown hair that had found a place to rest upon my face. I blew them away from my face and my gaze fell upon Lizard who was sitting in the chair I usually slept in. His eyes were closed and he looked fairly peaceful and at first I wondered why he was there and not on the bed. I then realized that a blanket was covering me and I was lying with a pillow under my head. Had I shifted my position last night? How did the blanket get over me? And why was Lizard sleeping in the chair? I yawned and sat up, scratching at my arm when I felt a bump on it and with a puzzled look I looked down at my arm. It took me about two seconds to figure out what it was and another second to jump out of the bed, screaming my head off while waving my arm frantically trying to get the huge ass cockroach off my arm. Instantly Lizard woke up and leapt out of the chair to grab onto my flailing arm. The rest of me jumped around as the cockroach fell onto the bed and I pointed with my free arm at it while trying to cling to Lizard. When he saw what was wrong he started to laugh at me and even had the balls to push me towards the disgusting creature. "No!" I yelled while clinging to him not really caring that he was half naked. He laughed at me again before shoving me away and reaching over to pick the bug up. I backed up against the wall as he came closer to me, looking at the bug with curiosity and glancing at me every so often. "I swear to god Lizard if you bring that fucking thing near me I'll rip your balls off and shove them down your throat" I hissed at him as I clung to the wall behind me. He raised his eyebrows and stopped short. I really haven't ever been that violent with my threats before and I'm sure he thought it was humorous that I would be so scared of something so little. "What the fuck are ya so scared of" He raised an eyebrow at me while I squirmed against the wall.

I glared at him, with a few looks at the big ass evil little cockroach that wiggled between his fingers. He squeezed the little bug till it couldn't be squeezed anymore and I looked away with disgust. He dropped it on the floor and looked over at me as if he was expecting an answer. I glared at him and moved to the door, ready to leave the room. I barely made it. "What are ya so scared about hm?" He had me pressed against the wall, either he was really curious about why I was scared or he was just going to taunt me about it. "I. Do. Not. Like. Bugs." I said as slowly as I could so he would get it. He frowned at me so I glared at him. He asked. Snorting slightly he backed off and I slipped out of the room, with Lizard following closely behind. I skipped the kitchen, not very hungry and went straight outside. I wanted to feel the warmth of the day upon my skin and when we reached the porch I sat down on the first step and watched Pluto walk from one of the houses to another and Goggle disappear into the hills. Lizard sat down beside me and I smiled slightly. Throughout this whole time I had never told him my name. Turning to him I noticed he was staring at the house Ruby resided in and I frowned. I hoped he would just leave Ruby alone. "Jessi" I said and he turned his head with a puzzled look. "My name is Jessi Sanes" I told him quietly while glancing away from him. He simply smirked and nodded his head. "I know" This made me laugh though I wasn't mocking him. "Of course" I mumbled and we both fell silent. Ruby walked out of her house sometime later and smiled at me. Making a wide path away from Lizard she moved to my side and I smiled at her. "Hello Ruby, how are you?" I asked while Lizard got up and moved away from us. Ruby looked at him with some fear but he simply went inside as I glanced at him.

Her attention focused back on me and I smiled again. "I'm good" She stuttered though her words were getting increasingly better. I was happy that she was learning so fast. "That's good Ruby" I smiled at her before getting up as Jupiter walked over to the house. I wasn't sure what he wanted but I wasn't about to sit around and find out. "Hey, when are those people comin'?" He asked while glaring at me. I frowned as I dug into my pocket to find some sort of watch when Jupiter threw a watch at me. Where did this come from? I glanced at the time and instantly threw it back. It was noon already, how long had we been sitting outside? How long had I been asleep? "In an hour" I spoke while looking down at Ruby. Her face had paled when she figured out what was going on. "Ruby, there's a puzzle in my room, do you want to start on it and I'll be there in a minute?" She simply nodded her head while walking inside. I watched her go then look back at Jupiter who was looking at me suspiciously but I ignored him and sat on the step again. "There will be six I believe, and two dogs" I muttered to him, wanting him to go away so I didn't have to talk about what was about to happen. He simply nodded at me before walking down to another house and walking in without even knocking. Talk about rude. Lizard came out shortly after Ruby went in and I stood up to go in. He stopped me with one of his arms but he wasn't looking at me. "Five minutes" He said before walking away. So I had five minutes before I started out to kill the innocent family. Nodding my head I made my way inside to tell Ruby a lie that might either save her or kill her.

I saw the puzzle pieces scattered around the room before I had even walked in the door. I smiled down at Ruby who was having some trouble with a piece. I bent down to guide her hand steadily till the little piece dropped where it was supposed to be. "Now push just a little bit" I said quietly and she did as I told. She smiled up at me but I simply sat down. "Can you work on this for me? I have to go now, I'll be back tonight and I need you to stay here and work on it till I get back" I couldn't really look at her as I spoke and it wasn't till her hand pressed against my cheek that I looked. "What's wrong" She said in almost perfect English. I stared at her with amazement and she giggled. "I have been prctacing" She missed the a in her word, making it sound odd. I smiled and laughed with her. "That's good Ruby, really it is" I said while giving her a hug. I let go and gave a sigh. "Nothing's wrong Ruby, it's just really important you stay here" I said while looking at her. She looked puzzled and like she was about to protest but she simply nodded her head. "Thank you" I whispered before getting up. I grabbed the guns I had at the side of the bed and walked out the door, not looking back. I couldn't. I walked out the door and found Lizard leaning against the porch. I simply walked past him and headed towards the hills.

We met up with Jupiter and Pluto soon after trekking up the hills a distance. Behind him a ways was Goggle, he was too interested on the road to care about what was going on behind him. "So when they comin'?" He said while handing me a watch. Where the hell did he get that? Then I remembered that many of the people who died here had probably had watches. Looking at the time I frowned. Two minutes. I looked up at Jupiter and he raised an eyebrow. "They'll be passing by here in two minutes." No longer than a second after I had said that Goggle turned to us. "Damn, She's tellin' da truth, they're commin' down the road now" He said while waving us towards him, hand outstretched to give someone the binoculars. Jupiter grabbed the binoculars and peered through them before smirking. "So you are a freak" He said to me as he moved away from the hill. I glared at him and he ignored me, instead nodding his head to Lizard who immediately walked down the hills to do whatever he did with that nasty spike strip. I turned away as the vehicle approached, not ready to face what I had to do. I looked back over as the vehicle hit the spikes, the air hissing out and the truck sliding out of control, the trailer connected to it swaying wildly behind it. My eyes widened slightly as I watched them crash into a large boulder and one of my hands instantly grabbed onto my t-shirt and the other covered my mouth to stifle my yell. Goggle was watching me carefully and I saw him smirk out of the corner of my eye. Lizard soon appeared by my side and watched from above as the Carter's left the car. He shoved a walkie talkie into my hands and walked back down to the village. I glared over to his general direction before he turned and smirked at me. "Jup says yous in charge till they're dead" He shrugged his shoulders as he continued down the rocky path back to the village.

I shivered slightly as I looked back down at the people out there. I could hear faint voices yelling down below and I sat down on a boulder and got comfortable. The dogs would be my first target, but I had to wait till both were let out of wherever they were. It was about ten minutes later that the first dog jumped from the trailer, the other one not far behind. The people were shouting for them to come back to them but I was already to my feet, running towards a deep cut in the hills. Holding the walkie talkie up to my face I tried hard to speak as calmly and as expressionless as I could. "I need about a pound of raw meat, now" I spoke into the crackling handheld device and the reply was quite irritating. "What the fuck do you need meat for?" Was the reply but I gritted my teeth and with all the cold, calm fury I had I raised the walkie talkie up again when I had paused over where I wanted the dogs. "Get me the damned shit I need or you're not going to be happy" I hissed into the device. When no answer came I smirked. I sat down and waited till the smell of blood filled my nose. Great. I looked over to see Lizard walking towards me with a curious look upon his face. Getting up again I waited till he walked over to me before pulling a bit of the meat out of his hands and dropping it onto the ground beside me. Taking the rest I glanced down at the little ravine like cut in the hills and tossed the remaining meat down. I watched it fall onto the ground, turning as it hit and staring at Lizard who looked at me as if I had gone crazy. I simply shrugged. "Bait" I said before turning around, grabbing the pair of binoculars I had stolen from Goggle. The two dogs had wandered down towards the other side of the hills from where the meat was. Frowning I gave a low, almost silent whistle that hopefully would only be caught by Lizard and the dogs roaming down below. As suddenly as my whistle stopped the two dogs' heads shot up and they spun around, running full out towards the sound of my voice. They were taking their time though as they occasionally stopped for a sniff, that is until the scent of the raw meat met their noses.

Both dogs now ran with ears pushed forward and noses high in the air. Tails were wagging as they both came upon the meat I had tossed down. Grabbing the meat from the floor and Lizard's knife from his belt, with some protest from him, I stalked down, ready to make my first kill.

I smiled at the two dogs, giving a low whistle and holding the meat out. One of them growled at me, but the other came near and I gave it half before gently stroking its head with the hand I had the knife in. The other one took more coaxing but soon I had him close to me. Slipping the knife to the female I thrust it into her chest, the smile gone and a stony look took its place. She died without a whimper. The male turned on me quickly, but I was ready and I jabbed the sharp knife into his jugular as he bite down on my arm that was held over my own neck to protect it. "Shit!" I swore as I shrugged the easily hundred and seventy pound animal off me. Lizard had shuffled down to the bottom where I sat staring at my cut. Frowning he ripped some clothe from my shirt, go figure, and wrapped it around my arm. He said nothing as he pulled me to my feet and looked over at the dead dogs and half eaten meat lying on the canyonish floor. He took the bloodied knife from my hand and grinned at me as I stalked up the hill to walk as swiftly as I could back to where Goggle sat. He looked back at me, looking surprised about my wound but I ignored him. Instead I raised the binoculars to my eyes to glance down at the wreckage down below. The three women and another man were there, but the boy and father were gone. I had seen the father disappear towards the gas station so that meant that the boy was looking for the dogs. So, time for my first real human kill. Lizard was behind me, looking quite bored so I decided to use him. "I need your help there Lizard" He looked up when I spoke, interest filling his eyes as I walked over to him. "You're going to chase me into the little ravine and then I'm going to kill the boy" I said with the same stony voice as before. Lizard must have thought it was quite funny as I found him nearly bursting to laugh. I glared at him, but he just raised his knife a nasty grin on his face. Sighing while rolling my eyes I watched as he moved forward before turning around to walk forward. The next thing I knew the knife was sliding down my back, and a scream of pain ripped from my mouth. Lizard laughed behind me and I wasn't about to turn around to ask him what the fuck was going on.

Breaking into a run I stumbled on a rock or two before racing into the ravine with the dead dogs. The boy was a few hundred yards away, running towards me as not so fake tears ran down my face and I screamed at him. Half of it was an act; the other half was defiantly not an act. I had a feeling that if I had stopped Lizard wouldn't have stopped his hand from driving the knife into me. The boy grabbed my arms, trying to calm me with frantic words but when he caught sight of the dead dogs and Lizard making his way down the hill he started pulling me away. I stepped closer to him, looking up at him with sorrowful eyes. "I'm so sorry" I whispered to him and he gave me a puzzled look. "For wha..?" He hadn't even had time to ask me what I was sorry about before I grabbed his head and snapped his neck quickly. His body fell to the floor and I cried, not in fear but in sadness that I had taken his life to save someone who would probably just kill me anyways. I fell to my knees as I cried over his body, my mental stability finally breaking as quickly as the boy's neck had snapped. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I cautiously looked over to see Lizard looking down at me but through my blurry eyes I couldn't see what the expression on his face was. Suddenly he pulled me to him and my face rested on his shoulder, where I cried till I had a horrid headache and I looked away from him and noticed the sky getting darker. My heart had stopped its frantic beating and my earlier sadness was gone. Even though I had been terrified and felt guilty for killing the boy I had a feeling in my gut that I really didn't care. I blamed it on the side effects. I was calm then, with his arms around me and my breathing going steady. It wasn't long though before the comfort left and he pulled me up to my feet, staring at my face as I glanced back at the boy. He said nothing so I said nothing in return. We moved up the path and before I reached the top I stopped and turned to him. "Thank you, whether you want it or not, I'm grateful you didn't kill me" I had fully expected him to kill me as I cried over the boy. I wasn't totally needed anymore, but that didn't mean they didn't need me. Or that he didn't want me. He raised an eyebrow and snorted. "I wasn't gunna kill ya, yer too much fun" He snickered at me while gesturing for me to move forward. I raised an eyebrow in return and shook my head as I turned around to walk back to Goggle who was still there. "They went to the trailer, theys worried bout the boy" I frowned at his words, wondering how he would know that but didn't ask. It didn't matter. I simply nodded my head and wondered what to do next. There were only three people in the trailer, but the man would be difficult to deal with unless I brought Lizard or Pluto with me. But I didn't want things to get too out of hand. I wanted swift kills, not bloody messes.

Sighing I remembered the father and figured he would be the next target. I would have to get to the gas station before he started to head back, and I would have to travel on foot which would only make me tired. As I frowned Lizard popped into my line of sight, a grin on his face as he grabbed my arm growling out a 'follow me' as if he had known what I was thinking. So I followed him with a frown on my face and sure enough we came upon a series of large tunnels that led down into darkness and for a second I stopped. But he simply pulled me into one of them and surprisingly carefully so I wouldn't trip in the darkness. It wasn't long before I saw light at the end of the tunnel and I could stop tripping over every rock, or pebble it seemed, that I encountered. We exited the tunnel and I noticed the back of the gas station. I stared at it, surprised that they had tunnels to the station, had he been here that day that we had stopped? Thoughts of the past could not be dwelled upon as I was hastily given the knife and pushed off into the direction of the gas station. "Thanks" I muttered to Lizard who simply grinned and disappeared into the tunnel. So they planned on making me do all the killing. Wonderful. I walked towards the gas station, the bloodied knife in my back pocket, the point pressing lightly into the edge of my thigh with every step, a reminder of my deed. I could hear shouting within the gas station. They hadn't killed Jeb as I had foreseen the first time I saw him and so he stood arguing with the father whom I was to kill. I walked in looking quite beat up and Jeb glared at me as I walked in. The father turned around and glared at me before staring in wonder at my appearance. My face was grave and Jeb's own face paled as I slipped the knife from my pocket, the blood upon it a clear sign of what had happened to it. Of course the father knew nothing of what the blood on the knife meant and I gave him a wary smile. "I was cutting up some meat we had" I said with a shrug. He gave me an odd look before believing my story and turning around to yell at Jeb again. It was simple. I walked swiftly up to him, hand with the knife going under his chin and slitting his throat before he could utter another yell. Jeb's eyes bugged out as the body fell to the floor and I thought he might start freaking out. My eyes were cast away from the man who had just been killed and I turned to walk out the door. I stopped as I heard Jeb's footsteps behind me. He looked pissed. Who wouldn't be? "Look, don't say anything, don't fuck with them" I said quietly. "Don't end up like them" I said while looking at the dead man, even more quietly before walking out the door and leaving a stunned Jeb behind. I walked away from him and back towards the tunnels before I realized I really didn't want to trek through the complete darkness of the tunnel. So I opted for the long walk back to the village. It was quite the walk, I hated the time it gave me to think. To think of everything that had happened, everything that had led up to this day. I had blood staining my hands and not only physically. It also gave me time to plan ahead to Ruby and mine escape, to kill the others and to leave this place far behind. I didn't want to accept the fact that I would be leaving Lizard, I didn't want to accept the fact that maybe I liked him. I didn't want to accept the fact that I loved him. That was the worst part of the walk back. Thinking of our fucked up relationship, it was the worst part of my whole stay. I was in eyesight of the trailer when I heard the scream. Suddenly I realized exactly why Lizard had taken me through the tunnel's, he knew that I wouldn't want to go back through the darkness and that gave him time to mess with the others in the trailer. Growling to myself I ran to the trailer, aware of the commotion going on inside. I could hear crying, both a girl's and one I hadn't expected, a baby's. Bursting through the door I surprised all of them in the trailer. I stood in the door way, with Lizard pointing a gun to a woman's head while he was slipping her shirt off. Narrowing my eyes I was more pissed that he hadn't really listened to the fact I said not to go in and mess with what I was doing. He looked surprised and a stifled cry from the girl in the back distracted me as I looked at a girl about sixteen or seventeen.

A few years younger than Jenna. I tried not to let out a cry as Pluto held her tightly against him and she struggled to get free. My gaze turned back to Lizard who was grinning up at me, the women before him staring defiantly yet pleadingly at me. God how I hated this. "Step back now" I whispered to him which made him sneer at me. Raising his hand the gun that was previously pointed at the blonde woman was now pointed at me. "Is that supposed to scare me?" I sneered at him just as he had to me. His eyes narrowed and his sneer was gone as he pushed the woman away from him and stalked up to me. The gun was still pointed at me but I had the knife and as he neared I gripped it and pressed it against his stomach as he pressed against me. "Leave" I said simply as he looked at me. The gun was held to my head but he wasn't going to shoot me. There was that look in his eyes, the one from the day we went to get supplies. It was fondness. He wouldn't, he couldn't shoot me. "Please" I whispered so no one else could hear. Suddenly he whipped away, pulling the trigger as he did killing the blonde woman who was looking at us in fear. I tried not to cry out and when the other girl started to cry I couldn't help a few tears sneak passed my eyes. Next thing I knew I was pushed out the door quickly, Pluto behind us dragging the girl and something else in his arm, but I couldn't see what it was. Shouting was heard from ahead, and the only other man left ran towards us, screaming while waving something. Lizard growled. "Drop the girl Pluto, let's go damnitt" He took off, dragging my arm with him and I had no choice but to follow. We were half way back to the village when the same crying from earlier made me look back. When I did I gasped as I found Pluto holding a baby in his arms, and it was crying as he held it wrong. Wrenching free of Lizard's grasp I went to Pluto's side and held my hands out. "Give her here Pluto" I said softly to the giant man. He looked at me but didn't hand me the child and I sighed. "Give me the child Pluto before something happens" I said just as softly and behind me I heard Lizard snort. Pluto was hesitant to give me the little girl but he did and I cradled her in my arms and watched as she slowly started to stop crying. I stood there, rocking the baby gently in my arms a frown on my face as Lizard kept walking and Pluto stood in front of me with a worried look on his face. Like I would hurt the baby. Sighing I wanted to cry once again and when I looked over my shoulder I saw Lizard had disappeared from sight. Looking at Pluto I motioned for him to leave and he did though he really didn't want to. After a few more minutes of watching Pluto leave I started back, I wasn't going to kill any more.

It took me only a small amount of time to return and when the girl saw me she started. She wasn't sure what was happening but once the man saw me he immediately ran up, taking the child from me. "I want to help you" I spoke softly while looking down. "I can get you out of here" They both looked up at me in shock. They were both near tears and my emotionless words seemed to have them wondering if I had seen more than they had. "I…please, we just want to leave" The man said gently, Doug as I gathered. I nodded my head and told them of a plan. I would take them back to the village, hide them until I sent all out again to find them and give them my car to take and let them leave with the child and Ruby. I would stay behind and give them enough time to leave. Nodding in agreement we made our way back, staying in shadows and hiding ourselves while trekking back to the Village. I had told them that I would have to take the child with me, but she would be safe until the morning. We reached the place and I snuck them in the back and we made it to the back of the first house without trouble. We were in the process of making the dash to the second house when the worst possible thing happened. Lizard found me.

Or more like his fist did. His hand smashed into my stomach and my head whipped around as I fell to stare into his angry eyes. I had the wind knocked out of me as I fell to the floor, gasping for breath and holding my ribs. The girl screamed and they both tried to run, but Pluto stopped Doug, taking Catherine from him, and Jupiter grabbed the girl. Lizard simply grabbed my arm and yanked me to him but he wasn't about to stop then. I received another punch to the stomach and I staggered back as he let go of my arm. "What the fuck are ya doin?" He asked in an eerily calm voice. Like he had known all along what I was doing. Oh god. I coughed a bit more, glaring at the ground but not saying anything. When the girl's crying was cut off my eyes widened and Doug yelled, but his yells were gone soon after. That was when I started to feel the tears fall down my cheeks, silent tears as I waited for my turn. But it didn't come and as I stared at the ground I heard the oddest sound. Pluto had just gave a surprised yell along with the rest of the group and as I looked over I saw Ruby running towards the hills with little Catherine in her arms. Instantly Pluto and Lizard were after her and I gasped. She was running up the hill, her feet unsteady so I ran after, faster than Pluto and I had almost reached Lizard when Ruby turned a corner. Lizard was only a few feet away from Ruby and his hand out stretched to grab her. Lizard didn't grab Ruby and his attempt to grab her caused her to loose her balance. She dropped Catherine while her body teetered on the edge of the trail. Ruby then tumbled off the slim trail and as she disappeared my own scream filled the air along with Catherine's. I stumbled and almost fell as I scrambled up the side of the cliff trying to reach the small path that Ruby had fallen off of.

Lizard was simply looked over the edge as I reached him. I slammed into him, using his body as a tool to stop me but I didn't hang on him long. I dropped to my knees as I gazed down upon the broken body of Ruby so far below. My screams where louder than that of little Catherine and tears were flowing freely down my face as I struggled to keep my sanity. Lizard stood next to me, without making a sound and without moving. I was hugging myself, my eyes red and puffy from the crying and unable to tear my gaze away from Ruby. Catherine's cries finally caught my attention and I stifled my cries and crawled over to the small child. I picked her up with shaky hands and tried to find any wounds. Not finding any I held her to my chest and cried silently, ignoring the burning pain with each ragged intake of breath. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I glanced at it and glared when I found Lizard. "No, No, No" I murmured at him, my voice cracking as he pulled harder at my shoulder. "Let's go" He said in a rough voice as if he was mad at me. This made me get up, but I turned to back away from him, sneering at him through wet eyes. "You did this! She hated you; she wanted to do anything to keep you from killing!" I yelled at him. "YOU KILLED HER" I screamed while backing up more. Suddenly my foot slipped off the trail and I almost fell as well, but Lizard grabbed onto my arm and pulled me close to him, careful of the child between us. He held me there for a long while till Jupiter had to come get us.

Lizard left me alone that night, I held Catherine as we slept in the rocking chair and the next day Ruby was buried outside the test village. Whether it was because I had loved her dearly in the five days I had known her and Lizard was trying to reconcile or it was because the family truly loved their own I don't know. It was short and all the mutants where there, and even some that I hadn't met before. I stood outside the house and watched from a distance with Catherine in my arms. It was then that I decided I would leave with Catherine like Ruby tried to do. I would take Catherine and give her a home and hope that she would never learn the horror's her real family was going through. All I needed now was a way out. It would take me another week to get out of this place, but I would do it. And I would never look back.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the day after Ruby's funeral and I was sitting in the chair staring at a sleeping Catherine. I hadn't slept at all during the night, images of Ruby's broken form upon the ground filling my head every time I closed my eyes. So I had kept myself awake and rocked back and forth softly to keep Catherine sleeping. Lizard had walked in a few hours after they buried Ruby and I had ignored him. I stared at the wall in front of me without really looking at it. I hadn't noticed Lizard get up till he blocked my view of the wall and I reluctantly looked up at him. He wasn't looking at me but the child in my arms and I hugged her close to me while glaring up at him. "She needs to eat" I said quietly which made his eyes snap to my own. I could almost see what he was thinking. Kill the child. "You will have to go through me first Lizard" I hissed at him in which he replied with a twitch of his arm. He had stopped himself from reaching out to do something to me, I could see it. He simply turned away and stalked out the door. Catherine had woke up and I could see a crying fit starting so I rocked back and forth carefully to calm her. I didn't know what was going to happen but all I knew was that I wanted to keep Catherine safe and get her the hell out of this place. And so we sat there for a few more hours, her crying often, me rocking her to sleep, helpless to get her something edible.

It had to be a few more hours since Lizard had first confronted me when Pluto walked in with a bunch of things in his arms. He set them on the bed, looked at Catherine longingly then left without a glance at me. When I finally got up and moved to the bed I saw a bunch of food, diapers, and such. A soft smile made its way to my face and I quickly grabbed a diaper and changed Catherine. After she had a fresh diaper I fed her mashed up baby food and she was soon asleep in my arms. I refused to put her down and so I sat in the same chair as before and gently rocked Catherine and me to sleep.

I woke a few hours later, though I didn't know that. All I knew was the comfortable weight in my arms was suddenly gone and I was up like a flash. My gaze scanned the room once, quickly and when I found no Catherine I stormed out of the room and burst through the front door. I saw Pluto walk into Ruby's old room and I streaked over there, arriving just as he slammed the door. I pushed the door open, staring wide eyed at the scene within. My eyes widened as I saw Pluto plopping into a chair with the small baby, Lizard walking in with that damned knife of his. My eyes slide over to the child's and with that simple image my eyes narrowed and I burst through the door startling all three of them. Flying into a complete rage I swung at Lizard. My fist connected but it was a glancing blow as he leapt out of my way. But I wouldn't let him escape that quickly. Even though he had that knife in his hand I still rushed him like I had the upper hand. My fury gave me more strength than I thought as I swung another punch at him. This time it connected with his jaw and I heard a crack as the jaw broke. Smirking to myself I went for another swing but was caught of guard when Lizard threw the knife down and planted a fist into my side.

After the initial shock faded away I screamed at him, redoubling my efforts while Pluto sprang to the door and stood watching us with the crying child in his arms. I swung again but my wild strategy left and my punches were more precise than they had been. One landed just under his chin, Lizard obviously ignoring the pain in his jaw, and another to his stomach. I hadn't realized till I was outright sobbing that I had been crying. After we had gotten a few more punches in and Lizard realized that my cries were really strangled sobs he grabbed my shoulders, trying to get me to stop hitting him. But I wouldn't, I kept screaming at him, telling him that he killed Ruby and I wouldn't let him kill Catherine. Finally I stopped, instead wrapping my arms around me and crying to myself. Even though I was shaking and upset I kept myself between Lizard and Catherine. Pluto wouldn't do anything else to the child. Lizard surprised me for the third time in my stay in the test village by taking me by the shoulders and wrapping me into his arms. Heavy breathing and sobbing was heard until my strangled cries died down and Catherine's cries overcame my own. Instantly my attention was focused on the girl and I pushed myself away from Lizard and he simply let me go. Pluto didn't want to relinquish hold on Catherine but Lizard's harsh look made him give me the child. He seemed sad but all I could worry about was the kid. Once in my arms and my soft coos relaxing her Catherine calmed down and settled into a sleep, the events of the past few days wearing on the little girl. Lizard stood behind me for a long while and it wasn't till my breathing calmed completely that I turned to him. A look of hardness had settled into my eyes.

He was looking at me, but more at the way I was protectively holding the child. "You are not taking her from me Lizard" I said quietly while staring him in the eyes. "You will not get to her without killing me first" My voice was soft and I think that the fact that I was pretty much talking to him like a child set him off. He growled at me, springing forward only to stop with his fist almost into my face. A split second decision had prevented him from smacking me around and my breath caught in my throat. "Be that way" He growled at me. "Be that way" He mumbled again before leaving me alone. He walked off and I stood for a moment before returning to Lizards room, ready to resume my perch on the chair. I noticed that Lizard had left the keys to my car on the table and I wondered for the first time if he was letting me have a way out. But the thought was erased when I thought of the hell he had put me through. I waited who knows how long before I went over and grabbed my keys from the table top and went to my own house. I sat in that chair for a long time, thinking about the more than a week that I spent with the Mutants of Test Village.

For most of the day it was just me and little Catherine. I liked it this way; the little girl asleep in my arms gave me a reason to stay calm and to think positive. Finally as daylight started to recede I decided to make my move. Grabbing a few things that I thought I would need I crept out of the house, little Catherine still lying in the bed asleep. Throwing the stuff in the back of my car I glanced around and was surprised to find the streets empty. I didn't even see anyone in the houses. I wasn't sure what was going on but I knew what I was going to do. Sneaking back inside I grabbed the little girl and wrapped her in the extra blanket that had been tucked in the bottom of the drawer with all my clothes in it. I didn't bother with the rest of the stuff; I would leave them here and never think about them again. I was quick to come back to my car and climb inside with little Catherine in my arms. Knowing that I didn't have a car seat or anything for the little girl I did the best I could with the front seat next to me and laid her down softly. I started the car and made sure the headlights stayed off while I gently eased it out of its spot beside the house. After a few tense moments I was far enough away that not even a shot from a gun would reach my car and I pushed the gas pedal down, ready to get away from this place. I had taken the hidden path out of the test village and down the dirt road. I turned my headlights on so I could see and as we started to pass where my car had crashed my breath caught as a figure stood upon the rock. I knew that it was Lizard and part of me wanted to stop, but there was no stopping now. Instead I kept going, trying not to find Lizards grey-blue eyes in the dark. The car slide past him and my breath released from its hold and I watched in the rearview mirror as Lizard threw down his spiked chain. My heart pounded and tears threatened at the corner of my eyes as I realized that he meant for me never to return to the Test Village.

My name is Jessi Sanes. I am a military personal that had a horrid experiment done to. I spent seven days with the most bloodthirsty killers in the world and I lived. I even fell in love with one. But now I could never return and I had to face civilization again. I risked my life for a little girl named Ruby yet I could not save her. Now I was giving at least one person the chance to live a life free from all the bloodshed that happened in that desert.

So, this is the last Chapter of Second Chances. I know it was long to get here but I promise you it is not the last story of Jessi. Review and let me know you want another installment of Jessi's life with the Mutants.


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